For months and months the HTC Shift has been at the top of the UMPCPortal product list as the most-viewed UMPC. Visitors here seem to love the design and even despite a few set-backs, it’s still as popular as ever. In recent weeks though, there’s been another ultra mobile PC climbing the charts and today, its sitting almost side-by-side with the Shift at the top of the list. The ASUS Eee PC. The two UMPCs have similar processors, similar sizes and similar capabilities. In fact, looking at the top 5 devices today I see nothing but notebook-style UMPCs. The U1010/810 is there, the Packard Bell Easynote XS (presumably because I reported on it this week) and the Kohjinsha SH6. 5 mobile devices, 5 sets of similar specifications and yet, a range of prices ranging from 300 to 1200 Euro. It hardly seems possible that the HTC Shift could be worth 4 times as much as the Eee PC. Is it?
UMPCs are about mobility. UMPCs are often about productivity and unfortunately, due to the higher pre-sales, production costs and lower demand are mainly targeted at professional people. The Eee PC is the first Ultra Mobile PC that breaks this mould and it puts into question the high prices being asked for the other devices in the market so what I’ve done below is to try and highlight why the HTC Shift and other UMPCs are so expensive. Take a read through and then, in the comments, let me know whether you think the SHift, U810, SH6 etc, are value for money or not. I’m not expecting everyone to agree and I’m certainly not in a defensive position regarding the Shift or other ‘expensive’ UMPCs here, I’m merely trying to outline why I think they have their respective price positions in the market. [read on]
The HTC Shift is a business-level UMPC.
Lets start by looking at the operating system as it’s an obvious difference. Regardless of the usefulness and efficiency of Linux, IT departments in the target territories for HTC are mostly built around Microsoft software. If HTC want to sell into businesses, and they would be silly not to, then the device needs to fit within the existing infrastructure. When the Eee PC is delivered with XP, we can re-visit this point but at the moment, this is a critical differentiator and even if the Eee PC was $99, it wouldn’t be any use to many businesses and professional people.
Staying with the IT department, lets think about the security policy. A lot of mid-large sized companies have them and there are usually special requirements for laptops and mobile computers. The fingerprint reader on the HTC Shift is not just there to speed up password input but it, combined with the OS’ ability to support encrypted file systems and common suites of security software could be a deciding factor for IT managers.
Pre and post-sales is an area where HTC already have skills in the business and professional area. Unless you’re looking to buy thousands of Eee PC’s I’d wager that you stand more chance of getting a sales rep within the HTC distribution chain than with Asus. The same goes for post-sales support. The whole marketing concept for the HTC Shift is based around business customers and works through established distributors and specialist resellers. I have no idea that the average cost of sales and support built into the Eee PC is but I bet its 1/5 of what’s built-in to the HTC Shift.
Lets take a step away from business requirements now and look at the mobility features. I’ve already mentioned the fingerprint reader, if it works, its a great way to save time with passwords and login processes. Another feature that should be taken into account is the mouse pad. I wasn’t too impressed with it when I tried it but assuming it’s either improved or that one can get better at using it, it allows very efficient two-handed slate mode use. This is perfect for browsing, reading emails and RSS feeds. With the keyboard closed up its far more comfortable than any notebook style device. Speaking of the keyboard, what you’ve got here is a keyboard that is master of nothing. Its not a touch-typing keyboard in notebook mode and its a fairly large device for thumb typing. However, where ‘master of none’ is often a derogatory term, in the case of the HTC Shift, its not. The HTC Shift keyboard is designed to enable efficient (but not perfect) use in multiple scenarios. While it might be nice to have a full size keyboard, if its packed away in your luggage, its no use whatsoever. You could argue that if you sit down at a desk a lot, you don’t need this keyboard, Its true. You probably don’t need a ultra mobile PC either but for those that need to be able to input in as many scenarios as possible , the Shift enables it. Being able to slide it out when needed in two-handed mode is ideal for many users. Being able to put it on a seat-back table or hotel-room ‘desk’ as a notebook PC is a real bonus. Being able to slide it away to give a slate form factor is a 3-in-One win.
The touchscreen. Its a soft-touch screen which doesn’t really help those looking do to serious note-taking but it does enable annotations, form-filling, diagrams and drawing over live presentations. It also allows finger control which opens up use of the device in a car for navigation, fleet tracking or simply entertainment.
Before we go on to technical features, lets not forget about the size. The HTC shift is 75% of the volume of the Eee PC. Its VERY small. It weighs 15% less too. It’s one of, if not the, smallest 7″ screen PC there is.
Moving on to some technical technical features now, lets consider the storage. The Eee PC 4G that is on the market today really doesn’t have much storage space. Under 2GB of free space is fairly restrictive and although at the begriming of its life it will be able to store most peoples documents, it will only take a few months before that figure drops away to nothing. The 8GB device won’t help much either, especially if XP is installed. A professional device really needs 20GB free to be useful over its lifetime. You could argue that an external drive is an option but its risky, cumbersome and impacts portability.
Connectivity. Built-in HSDPA is vastly superior to tethering. 3.6mbps provides way more throughput than you’ll achieve through a Bluetooth connection. The speed and ease of connectivity, too, is enough to be the difference between ‘usable’ and ‘not usable’ for some people. USB ‘mice’ are cumbersome and prone to be lost or stolen.
HSDPA also enables….bundling. If you are considering paying $30-$50 per month for flat rate Internet, it won’t get you a discount on the EEE PC. In Europe, a high-end contract is knocking 400 Euro (1/3) off the price of a Shift. This could be a major advantage for the Shift as it helps new and small businesses jump on board at a more reasonable entry point. Tying yourself into a 24-month flat-rate Internet contract is a risky thing to do, yes, but saving 400 Euro at the purchase point is still very attractive for some people.
Snap-Vue. What many people thought was a WM6 component turned out to be a rather cut down ARM-based software set but the email facility could be very useful indeed. It supports push email and can go for 2 days, active, between charges. This component also has the potential to be enhanced in the future. A simple note-taking application, RSS reader or low-end browser would add a huge amount of value to the Shift. Think about what you could do with a remote desktop client that ran for a whole day!
Finally we get to brand and style. Asus and HTC both have good brands but take a look at the differences in style. They are worlds apart. Some people are going to buy the HTC Shift for this alone. Its so small. Its so stylish. Sure the Eee PC is a cute device but not a match for the Shift.
In my opinion the HTC shift is one of the best designed professional-focused UMPCs ever. The Eee PC is one of the best designed consumer UMPCs ever. They are both great machines but exist for different customers.
I’ve had hands on with the Shift but not with the Eee PC. I have, however used two devices of the same form factor and size as the Eee PC. I’ve also, of course, had some experience with other UMPCs so I don’t think my arguments are unfounded. I haven’t covered some of the advantages of the Eee PC (slightly better battery life, huge cost savings, massive community) though but I think the points above are enough to show the difference. Let me know what you think below.
Finally, for a technical comparison of the two devices, click here (new window.)
